The campaign also featured new drug driving swab kits, in use for the first time. 2,588 drug screening devices were administered, with, 1,028 (39.7 per cent) returning a positive reading.

The NPCC says that officers targeted drink drive ‘hotspots’ and describes the results as ‘encouraging’, while expressing disappointment that motorists continue to drive while under the influence.

However, road safety charity Brake has described the figures as ‘worrying’, saying that it is “impossible to know” whether the targeted strategy was a success.

Chief constable Suzette Davenport, NPCC’s lead for roads policing, said: “It is encouraging to see that our intelligence led approach continues to work – fewer tests administered but increased criminal justice outcomes, with forces actively targeting hotspots and using their local knowledge to get drink and drug drivers off our roads.

“We remind those who drive when intoxicated that police forces across the country are better equipped than ever before to detect and prosecute drivers who ignore the law.”

Gary Rae, Brake’s director of communications and campaigns, said: “The latest national figures from the police show worrying signs, with a large drop in the amount of people being tested but an increase in those who tested positive, failed or refusing the test.

“With traffic police numbers on the decline, it’s leaving those who enforce the law with very little resources to catch those who do break the law and despite the police claims of a successful targeted strategy, the degree to which this is actually the case is impossible to know.”